We all know catastrophe (CATs) events and other disaster response efforts challenge the industry more than other times of the year. We can look no further than the Fall of 2017 for a reminder about what a busy CAT season entails when rain, wind and fire created a near “biblical” and chaotic period for several months. According to NOAA, there were 16 disaster-related events in 2017 in the US that each exceeded $1B in total losses. Whether it’s a single tornado affecting a Midwest town or a series of hurricanes hitting the Gulf coast, CATs today require new and innovative approaches to teams, workflows and protocols. The result is greater volume and more moving pieces that require large teams to collaborate remotely. Regardless of the chaos, the expectations remain the same for most insurance carriers in regards to speed and efficiency during these tumultuous times. The best, modern solutions for handling CATs involve better collaboration, more accurate models and the utilization of data, documentation and analytics to work smarter. There are a variety of new technologies and solutions capable of achieving these goals and the industry is increasingly demanding an “up or out” mindset to handling CAT activity with more efficiency. If you can’t scale successfully for CATs, it casts doubt on a firm’s ability to handle business during the quieter times of the year.
Collaboration during CATs has been common in the industry for a while. Husband-wife adjusting teams have been dividing and conquering for years and Direct Response Programs (DRPs) have utilized inside-outside contractor models to effectively scope, estimate and repair damage during CATs. But, those traditional models have not identified the optimal solutions for dividing the work most reliably and effectively during a time of heightened activity. New models and technologies instead allow for better division of tasks and responsibilities and better overall documentation capture. The traditional husband-wife approach to field handling lacked a “real-time” element, meaning the person doing the scoping often needed to work a different schedule than the estimate writer to transfer data back and forth. With modern solutions that utilize live video or scoping technologies, field personnel can focus on inspecting, scoping and engaging customers while transferring that documentation back to an inside person on a real-time basis. During high-volume, challenging CAT periods, this improved collaboration can dramatically improve field productivity and reduce cycle times on claims. Further, it can make a huge difference to the actual work itself. No longer are contractors or adjusters required to inspect all day and write estimates all night. A new “assembly line” can occur to allow scoping and estimating to happen on a near real-time basis while creating a better overall documentation process.